COLORADO SPRINGS -- The U.S. Air Force Academy is drawing fire for hosting three speakers critics say are evangelical Christians falsely claiming to be ex-Muslim terrorists.

The three men were invited as part of a weeklong conference on terrorism organized by cadets at the academy's Colorado Springs, Colo., campus because "they offered a unique perspective from inside terrorism," U.S. Air Force Maj. Brett Ashworth, an academy spokesman told The New York Times.

But, their appearance was criticized by Muslims and religious freedom organizations.

"Their entire world view is based on the idea that Islam is evil," Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on Islamic American Relations, said to the Times. "We want to provide a balancing perspective to their hate speech."

Members of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, referring to the trio as part of "the endemic evangelical infiltration."